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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS • 



029 487 026 A 



Hollinger Corp. 
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AN ACT 

To Require School 
Attendance 

Compulsory Education 

can be secured and enforced in any school district only through 

the co-operation of trustees, teachers, patrons, pupils and 

taxpayers. The local option provisions of this law 

are contained in Section 9. In any district 

petitioning for compulsory attendance, the 

election must be held on the second 

Tuesday in June of any year — 

June 8th, 1915. 



ISSUED BY 

The State Department of Education 

COLUMBIA, S. C. 

1915 



40 



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THE R. L. BRYAN COMPANY 

COLUMBIA, S. C. 

1915. 



0* of D. 
rvPR 22 1918 






\ 



Important Features of the Law 

1. The adoption of compulsory attendance in any district depends abso- 
lutely upon the co-operation of the people. This law simply means that all 
children between the ages of six and twenty-one years have the right to 
attend the local school of their district. 

But in districts adopting the provisions of this Act, children between 
the ages of eight and fourteen years will be required to attend four months 
in the country and the full term in town. Pupils under eight and above 
fourteen will not be affected. (Section 1.) 

2. Three methods of adopting the law are authorized : 

a. Upon petition of a majority of the qualified electors residing in the 
district. 

b. Upon election after petition by one-fourth of the qualified electors 
residing in any district. 

c. Upon election after petition by a majority of the Board of Trustees 
of any district containing an incorporated town of fifteen hundred inhabit- 
ants. (Section 9.) 

Elections shall be held upon the order of the County Board of Education 
on the second Tuesday in June. Petition blanks may be had on application 
either from the State Superintendent or from the County Superintendent. 

3. Every district already voting a local school tax under Section 1742 of 
the Code will have no difficulty in adopting and enforcing compulsory 
attendance under this Act. On June 30, 1914, there were 1,887 school dis- 
tricts in the State. Of these, 1,358 had voted a local school levy. 

Every local tax district should circulate its compulsory attendance peti- 
tion at once, should hold its election on the second Tuesday in June, and 
should put every child in school during 1915-16. 

4. There remain 529 districts which have neglected or refused to vote a 
local school tax. Some of these do not need additional money, but nearly 
every one needs greater interest in education. 

Some two score of these districts without a local tax have voted in 
favor of an extra levy since July 1st. At least one hundred new levies will 
certainly be voted during the scholastic year 1914-15. 

The trustees and teachers in these 529 districts now have a double 
opportunity to ask for a local tax and for compulsory attendance. 

The Legislature in enacting this law has also made liberal appropria- 
tions for the public schools. A fair chance and a free field are thus offered 
to every locality. 

Every progressive district is urged to take advantage of the law. 

Respectfully, 

J. E. SWEARINGEN, 
State Supt. of Education. 



SINKLER- HAWKINS BILL 



An Act to Require School Attendance 



Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State 
of South Carolina, That from and after the first day of July, one 
thousand nine hundred and fifteen, every parent, guardian, or 
other person, temporarily or permanently residing in the State 
of South Carolina, having charge or control of a child or children 
between the ages of eight and fourteen years, shall cause such 
child or children to attend the local public school in the district 
in which he resides, continuously for the entire school term of 
each year, except as hereinafter provided. This period of com- 
pulsory attendance shall commence at the beginning of the school 
term nearest to the eighth birthday of such child, and shall cover 
the compulsory period of six consecutive schooly ears thereafter. 
This period of compulsory attendance for each, public school 
shall commence at the beginning of the school term of said 
school, unless otherwise ordered by the County Board of Educa- 
tion in writing; in case of town or cities of two thousand or more 
inhabitants, according to the preceding Federal census, by the 
Board of Trustees of the public schools of said towns or cities 
with the approval in writing of the County Superintendent of 
Education. Continuous attendance upon some other public 
school, or upon some private or church school taught by com- 
petent teachers, may be accepted in lieu of attendance upon the 
local public school : Provided, That such period of continuous 
attendance upon such other school shall be for at least as long 
as the public school term each year : Provided, further, That any 
private school or church school receiving for instruction pupils 
between the ages of eight and fourteen years shall be required to 
keep such records of attendance of such children, and to render 
such reports of same as are hereinafter required of public schools, 
and attendance upon such school refusing or neglecting to keep 
such records or to render such reports, shall not be accepted in 
lieu of attendance upon the local public school of the said town, 
city or district where the child shall be entitled to attend: 
Provided, further, That the compulsory school term in all agri- 
cultural districts shall be four months, or the full term if the 
school runs less than four months, said term to be fixed by the 
Board of Trustees of such district ; and any child or children not 



engaged in work at home in such agricultural districts, must 
attend a full term. This four months' compulsory provision shall 
also apply to all children residing in agricultural districts and 
attending schools in any town located in such districts. 

§ 2. This Act shall not apply in any case in which the child's 
physical or mental condition, as attested by any legally qualified 
physician before the Board of Trustees having jurisdiction of the 
matter under this Act, renders his attendance impracticable or 
inexpedient; or in any case in which the child resides two and 
one-half miles or more by the nearest traveled route from the 
schoolhouse ; or in any case in which, because of extreme poverty, 
the services of such child are necessary for his own support or 
the support of his parents, as attested by affidavit of such parents 
and of such witnesses as the Trustees of the district may 
require; or in any case in which said parent, guardian, or other 
person having charge or control of the child shall show before 
the Trustees of the district by affidavit of himself and of such 
witnesses as they may require that the child is without necessary 
books and clothing for attending school, and that he is unable 
to provide the necessary books and clothing: Provided, That 
when books and clothes shall have been supplied by any means 
whatsoever, the child shall no longer be exempt from this pro- 
vision : Provided, further, That if the child lives two and one-half 
miles or more from the schoolhouse, and means of transportation 
is furnished, the said child, if otherwise eligible, shall be required 
to attend the said school under the provisions hereof, and it shall 
be the duty of the Trustees of the school to provide, out of the 
public school funds, books for the use of such indigent pupil 
free of charge. The power of the Board of Trustees to suspend 
or expel any pupil shall not be curtailed by this Act, and children 
so suspended or expelled shall not be subject to the provisions 
of this Act during such period of suspension or expulsion: 
And, provided, further, That the Board of Trustees of any school 
district may excuse temporarily any child from attendance, good 
and sufficient reasons being made to appear therefor; and in case 
any child is excused temporarily under the provisions of this 
Act, the said Board of Trustees shall reduce to writing the rea- 
sons for their action, and the time the said child is excused. 

§ 3. Every parent, guardian, or other person in the State of 
South Carolina having charge or control of a child or children 
between the ages of eight and fourteen years shall ' cause such 



8 

child to attend school as aforesaid: Provided, That occasional 
absence from attendance by said child, amounting to not more 
than four (4) unexcused absences in four consecutive weeks, 
shall not be unlawful : Provided, further, That the superintendent, 
principal, or teacher in charge of any school may excuse any 
child for a temporary absence because of unusual storm, or bad 
weather, sickness or death in the child's family, unforeseen or 
unavoidable accident, and such excuse and reason therefor shall 
be recorded by said superintendent, principal, or teacher in 
charge of the school, and reported to the Trustees as hereinafter 
provided : Provided, further, That in case of protracted illness of 
any child whose attendance is required under this Act, or in case 
of quarantine of the home in which the child resides, upon report 
of the health officer or upon satisfactory evidence to this effect, 
the Trustees shall excuse from attendance such child until he is 
fully restored to health, or until the expiration of the time 
required by law that he shall stay out of school after quarantine 
has been raised. 

§ 4. Every parent, guardian, or other person in the State of 
South Carolina having charge or control of a child between the 
ages of fourteen and sixteen years, who is not actually, regularly 
and lawfully engaged in some useful employment or service or 
who cannot read at sight and write legible simple sentences in 
the English language, shall cause such child to attend regularly 
some public school as aforesaid. 

§ 5. Any parent, guardian, or other person violating the pro- 
visions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon 
conviction, shall be liable to a fine of not less than two dollars 
for the first offense, and not less than five dollars for any subse- 
quent offense, nor more than twenty-five dollars in any case; 
and upon failure or refusal to pay said fine said parent, guardian, 
or other person shall be imprisoned not to exceed thirty days in 
the county jail : Provided, That the fine for any first offense may, 
by order of Court, upon the payment of cost, be suspended and 
not collected until the same party is convicted of a second 
offense : Provided, further, That after the expiration of three days 
from the service of the notice by the Trustees each and every 
day a parent, guardian, or other person shall wilfully and unlaw- 
fully keep such child or children from school, or allow him to 
remain out of school, shall constitute a separate offense, and 
shall subject such person to the penalties hereinafter prescribed. 



9 

§ 6. The following duties are hereby devolved upon the Board 
of Trustees of each school district. They shall take the census 
of children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, and 
shall keep the attendance records of their districts. It shall be 
their duty to take an annual school census during the calendar 
months of July and August, and to furnish each superintendent, 
principal, or teacher in charge of a school with an accurate 
report of said census of the district three days before the opening 
of the school, and also to furnish at the same time a copy of the 
said school census of each district to the County Superintendent 
of Education: Provided, That in case the school census is not 
taken as herein directed, it shall be the duty of the County Board 
of Education so to do, and to meet the expense out of the funds 
of the district. The Board of Trustees shall serve written, or 
printed, or partly written and partly printed notices on every 
parent, guardian, or other person violating the provisions of this 
Act, and prompt compliance on the part of said parent, guardian, 
or other person is hereby required. Prosecution under this 
Act shall be brought in the name of the State of South Carolina 
before any Magistrate or Recorder of any Municipal Court within 
the limits of whose territorial jurisdiction the person prosecuted 
resides. The Board of Trustees shall have the right to visit and 
enter any office or factory or business house employing children 
for the purpose of ascertaining the names and ages of the children 
employed, to facilitate the enforcement of this Act. When doubt 
exists as to the age of a child, they may require of the employer 
a properly attested birth certificate or an affidavit stating said 
child's age; they shall keep an accurate account of all notices 
served, of cases prosecuted, and of all other services performed, 
and shall make an annual report of same on or before July 
15th of each year to the County Superintendent of Education: 
Provided, further, That the Board of Trustees of each school 
district is hereby vested with authority to employ a clerk or 
clerks whose compensation shall not exceed three cents per capita 
for obtaining a census for each school district for each school 
term. 

§ 7. It shall be the duty of all superintendents, principals, and 
teachers to co-operate with the Board of Trustees in the enforce- 
ment of the law ; to this end it shall be the duty of the superin- 
tendent, principal, or teacher in charge of any school in which 
pupils between the ages of eight and fourteen years are instructed, 



10 

to keep an accurate record of the attendance of such pupils, to 
render during the period of compulsory attendance of each school 
term monthly reports of same to the Board of Trustees and the 
County Superintendent of Education, showing all absences, 
excused and unexcused, and in case of each excused absence, 
stating the reason therefor. Upon the wilful or negligent failure 
of any superintendent, principal, or teacher in charge of any 
school to comply with the provisions of this section, the County 
Superintendent of Education shall deduct from his or her salary 
for the current month the sum of five dollars before approving 
the voucher therefor ; and in case of a second offense on the part 
of any superintendent, principal, or teacher, the County Super- 
intendent of Education is hereby forbidden to approve the salary 
warrant of said Board, who may appeal from such action to the 
County Board of Education, and the decision of the said County 
Board of Education shall be final. 

§ 8. It shall be the duty of the County Board of Education 
of each county to cause this Act to be published in full in some 
newspaper published in the county, if there is one, and if there 
is none, in circular form, and given the widest possible circulation 
at least four weeks prior to the opening of the schools for the 
school year, beginning July first, one thousand nine hundred and 
fifteen, and annually thereafter, if in their discretion it seems 
necessary. The Board of Trustees of any district, city or town 
shall give two weeks' public notice of the date of opening of any 
school under their jurisdiction by publishing said notice in a 
county newspaper or by posting said notice on the school- 
house door. 

§ 9. The notice of any Board of Trustees giving the date of 
opening of any school or schools shall also state the proposed 
length of the term as nearly as practicable, and a copy signed by 
at least a majority of the Board of Trustees shall be filed at the 
date of issuance in the office of the County Superintendent of 
Education. In any district, aggregation of adjoining districts, 
this Act shall not take effect and become operative until, and 
unless, a petition signed by a majority of the qualified electors 
of such district, aggregation of districts, requesting the com- 
pulsory school attendance under this Act be authorized in such 
territory, shall have been submitted to the Clerk of Court. The 
said Clerk of Court shall examine such petition with especial 
reference to the legibility of the names contained thereon, and 



11 

after examination shall refer such petition to the County Board 
of Registration. Along with the petition the Clerk of Court 
shall send his written statement showing that he has counted 
the names thereon and has found them to be so many (giving 
the number). Immediately upon receipt of the petition and the 
statement of the Clerk of Court, the County Board of Registra- 
tion shall check such petition against the registration books of 
the county or of such number thereof as may be affected, and 
the said County Board of Registration shall certify its findings 
in writing to the County Superintendent of Education. Upon 
receipt of such certificate showing that such petition bears the 
signatures of a majority of the qualified voters of the territory 
affected, the County Board of Education shall forthwith declare 
the provisions of this Act of full force and effect in such territory. 
If such petition for any district, or aggregation of districts, is 
filed with the Clerk of Court, checked by the County Board of 
Registration, and certified to the County Superintendent of Edu- 
cation after the opening of any school or schools, the County 
Board of Education may fix the date for the beginning of the 
compulsory school attendance for that year; or the said County 
Board of Education may order such compulsory school attend- 
ance to begin at the opening of the next succeeding scholastic 
year. That where no such petition is filed, signed by a majority 
of the electors as herein provided, upon the filing of a petition 
signed by one-fourth of the qualified electors of such district, 
or aggregation of districts, an election shall be ordered by the 
County Board of Education, submitting to the qualified electors 
of such district, or aggregation of districts, the question of com- 
pulsory school attendance or no compulsory school attendance 
for said district, or aggregation of districts : Provided, further, 
That the County Board of Education, in all school districts con- 
taining a town of a population of 1,500 or more inhabitants, upon 
the petition of a majority of the Board of Trustees shall order 
such election. The said election shall be held at the schoolhouse, 
or schoolhouses, for white children, in the said district, or aggre- 
gation of districts. The managers shall be appointed by the Board 
of Trustees of each district, and the said election shall be con- 
ducted in accordance with the rules governing general elections. 
The County Board of Education shall supply printed ballots, as 
follows: "Compulsory school attendance accepted;" "Compulsory 
school attendance rejected," and if the majority vote in the said 



12 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 487 026 P 



election "Compulsory school attendance accepted," then the 
provisions of this Act shall apply to the said district, or aggrega- 
tion of districts. The said election shall be held on the second 
Tuesday in June, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, follow- 
ing the filing of the said petition, or on the second Tuesday in 
June of any subsequent year. Any district omitting, failing, or 
refusing to accept compulsory school attendance as herein pro- 
vided, either by petition or by election, may adopt the provisions 
of this Act in, any subsequent year, either by petition or by 
election as hereinabove provided. 

§ 10. The Board of Education of each county, and in case of 
towns and cities of two thousand inhabitants, the Board of- 
Trustees therein shall have power at any meeting to make such 
rules and regulations not in conflict with the provisions hereof, 
as they may deem best with reference to the time, place and 
hours for school attendance so as to secure the attendance of all 
children between the ages of eight and fourteen years upon the 
schools of the county as herein provided, and such rules and 
regulations, when approved by the County Superintendent of 
Education, and posted at the courthouse door and at the door of 
each public schoolhouse in the territory affected thereby, shall 
have the force of law until, and unless, they have been revoked 
on appeal by the State Board of Education. The operation of 
such rules and regulations may be suspended by the State Super- 
intendent of Education during the pendency of such appeal. 

§ 11. No tuition, contingent, matriculation, incidental, or other 
fee of any kind shall be charged or collected for the attendance 
of any pupil upon any school in the common or public school 
department residing in this State adopting the provisions of 
this Act. 

§ 12. The County Board of Education shall have full power 
and authority to remove from office any Trustee, or Board of 
Trustees, neglecting, refusing, or omitting to carry out the pro- 
visions of this Act, and to fill the vacancy thereby created on 
said Board in accordance with existing law. 

§ 13. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after 
the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen. 
All Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act be, and 
the same are hereby, repealed. 

Approved the 20th day of February, A. D. 1915. 



